The Reasons Why
by Sanktimonium
Summary: Blake appears to be going insane. Specters from her past haunt her and the line between dream and reality quickly dissolves. In her madness, she finds solace in the company of Ruby Rose, her lover's sister. Her "sessions" with Ruby spark a new fire that Blake has never felt before. Now Blake must decide between two loves while searching for the cause of her delusions.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Just a quick RubyxBlake one-shot I felt like cooking up besides working on chapters for my longer series. Review and enjoy!

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Steel on steel. The clang echoed inside the thick walls of the train cart. For a second, Blake thought nothing of it. But, after that sound of Gambol Shroud on Adam's blade entered her ears, she knew nothing would be the same from now on.

Adam didn't say a word. He just looked at Blake through his soulless mask as she stared wide-eyed at the two humans in front of her. The children held themselves in a final embrace before Adam's blade tore through the air to end their lives before they even began.

The brother, sticking to his father's strict words of manhood, held his sister under his body as she cried. That same father laid in a pool of blood not inches away from them. Blake could see small spatters of it on the boys white sweater and overalls.

Blake wasn't sure why she couldn't blink. She attributed it to anger, fear, and heartbreak. But, Blake knew that this same moment was just an ill repeat of her own life. A father, a mother, and a brother that were struck down before her mercilessly. She couldn't even remember the face of the human that did it.

In that second, Blake wished she didn't stop the blade. She wished every damn human suffered the same fate that she did. Yet, she did stop the blade-Adam's blade. The blade of her partner. The blade of the man who took her in when she was starving in alley ways because she couldn't manage to steal the tuna from the docks that day. Tears began to flow down her eyes.

Adam loosened his grip and allowed his sword to limply dangle from his wrist. He swiped the remaining blood off and sheathed it. The clicking of the hand guard snapped Blake into reality.

"A-Adam! I-I'm" she said as her savior walked to the next cart. He looked back.

"Do that again. And I'll kill you." He disappeared behind the connecting doors. Blake watched the door, expecting him to come back and make it all better like he did many years ago. But, Blake knew. Nothing would be the same now.

She looked once more at the children cowering below her. There faces were covered with blood and their teeth were ripping out of their lips like jagged daggers. They pounced at Blake. Instantly, Blake drew her blade.

Before Blake awoke, all she could remember was those teeth sinking into her neck.

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Ruby jolted when she heard Blake scream. It didn't sound like the surprised kind of scream either. It sounded like she was scared for her life. Ruby didn't realize that a simple pinch in the back of Blake's neck would scare her so much. "I'm sorry!" Ruby blurted as the brunette held her heart and panted heavily. Ruby could see the beads of sweat flowing down her forehead. "It's just you fell asleep during our book report! I didn't want to wake you, but it was getting late and I figured you'd like to go back to the dorm and sleep there instead. But, it's totally OK if you want to sleep here. I mean not that you have to. I'm sorry! Just go back to sleep if you want to!"

"It's fine, Ruby" Blake said mustering a weak smile. "It was just a bad dream. I'm fine really." She retrieved a handkerchief from her blouse pocket to dab her sweat away and realized her hands were shaking vigorously. She clasped her hands together in hopes that it would stop. But, the shaking just became worse. The same tears in her dream also began to appear. Blake realized that she was having a panic attack.

Without second thought, Ruby embraced Blake. Other students in the library were shocked and gawked at the sudden affection. But, Ruby didn't care. Her reputation at Beacon was non-existent to begin with. Regardless, she felt this was what a leader should do for her teammates.

Blake's symptoms subsided over time. She realized halfway through the ordeal that her head was against Ruby's chest and her arms were wrapped around her like a kind mother's. She was ashamed that her tears had stained Ruby's uniform and that her clawing grip had wrinkled it.

Blake focused on Ruby's heart beat for no particular reason. All she could remember is that she wanted her fear to end and Ruby's beating heart was the only thing to distract her. After fifteen minutes, Blake was confident that she could function normally.

Ruby let go of Blake upon her request, although she still stayed intimately close in case she was about to relapse. "Thank you," Blake said. Her voice was still shaky, but Ruby felt the confidence returning to her voice.

"Hey! No problem. That's what I'm here for." Blake smiled warmly.

"Let's head back," she said while adjusting her bow. "I'm kind of hungry." Ruby giggled. Only Blake would blush by admitting she's hungry.

"Sure. I'm starving too!" As Ruby stood, she felt a warm feeling surround her cheek. Blake laid her lips on Ruby's forehead and her lips puckered for several seconds, before sliding her hand off of her cheek.

"Thanks again, Ruby," Blake said, staring into Ruby's eyes.

"N-no problem!" Ruby Rose turned ruby red.


	2. Chapter 2: In the Corridor

**A/N: The one-shot is now a series. Not sure when I will update it. Maybe on a weekly basis. Anyway. Enjoy!**

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Since Beacon was an old school, a few of it's corridors were unable to support modern lighting, so the only source of light came from the intense beams of orange that angled in from the setting sun beyond the windows that dotted the length of the corridor. It had the effect of enshrouding Blake in the shadow casted by the rays that illuminated Ruby. So it made sense when Ruby didn't notice Blake observing her weird behavior.

Blake saw Ruby innocently whistling to herself while focusing on the view outside. It was strange, she expected Ruby would be rambling on about some story or another at this point. The walk from the library was definitely quieter than usual, even for Blake's standards. Was it because of that kiss?

At the time Blake thought nothing of it. When she was alive, her mother would kiss her on the forehead when she was proud of her or just happy to see her. Then again, this is Ruby. Even if she is working hard as their leader, she is still pretty immature and tomboyish. It wouldn't be unlike her to take a simple kiss and blow it out of proportion. "Hey Ruby," Blake said. She tried to get her attention by repeating her name to no avail. Finally, Blake stopped and grabbed Ruby's arm.

"Huh!?" she blurted as she was suddenly jerked back. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Ruby, I've been trying to talk to you this whole time. You couldn't hear me?

"Oh, sorry! I guess I was daydreaming too much." she said, grinning-far too much for any normal person-in order to hide the blush on her cheeks.

Blake raised an eyebrow in suspicion. The tiny movement seemed to scare the life out of Ruby. Blake chuckled at her. "That's OK. Listen, about earlier. That kiss we shared, what did you think of that?"

"W-what do you mean? A kiss is a kiss right? I didn't think much about it at all!"

"Ruby I'm serious." Blake crossed her arms in frustration and Ruby slouched.

"I'm sorry. Honestly, I don't know Blake. After you well...you-know-what me, I kind of just went haywire like a broken machine. I don't know what I was thinking."

Maybe Blake had gone to far. Maybe humans didn't share the same opinions towards kissing that faunas did. Morse so, Ruby was her junior by two years. Blake remembered that even the younger girls in the White Fang acted strange around boys older then them-especially Adam. Furthermore, Ruby was terrified of boys more than a full grown ursa. Maybe she was scared of close interaction to begin with. Blake realized that Ruby was waiting patiently for some sort of response from her. Even she couldn't muster to say anything to break up the silence. However, she did have an inkling thought in the back of her head. "Ruby, was that your first kiss?"

"What? Of course not. Yang used to kiss me on the cheek all the time when I was little!"

"I mean from someone other than family."

"Well...then yes. That was my first kiss."

"I see." Blake trailed off. Even to the faunas, first kisses were important. Maybe Blake had made a mistake and overreacted. Then again, she couldn't remember why she had the urge to kiss Ruby in the first place. She blushed and wanted to quickly move on to another subject. But, she couldn't think of anything to say. Without any other options, Blake started walking towards the cafeteria again. Ruby followed. Their walk seemed more quiet than ever.

As the duo turned the next corner, they discovered Yang turning down the corner from the opposite side. This was the usual time the gang would meet up to eat dinner, so it was no surprise to run into her here. The bubbly blonde waved at them and jogged down to join them.

She landed a gentle kiss on Blake's lips after reaching them. Blake blushed slightly. She hated it when Yang showed her affection in public. It was bad enough to hear rumors forming about them the second they kissed; but even worse when Blake's faunas hearing was able to catch every single "juicy" detail thrown around like lose change. However, Blake couldn't help but humor her girlfriend when she reached in to land one.

"Hey there hot stuff!" Yang shouted. "Hey sis!"

Blake glimpsed at Ruby. As usual, she turned her back whenever she saw the two kissing. But, now she wasn't turning around to rejoin the conversation as usual. Blake worried if it had to do with the kiss earlier. Before she doubted too much, however, Ruby turned back around, the red in her cheeks only slightly visible.

"Hey Yang!" she blurted, again with a grin too long for any normal person. Yang didn't seem to notice.

"Let's get going. I'm starving and the Ice Queen's already waiting for us." Yang reached to hold Blake's hand as the trio turned another corner, but the brunette waved it away.

"That's enough for today Yang." Blake said, staring down her lover with her eerie amber eyes. Yang slouched.

"So guess what Blake. I discovered a new rumor today!" Yang said. Unlike her partner, Yang embraced the rumors as symbols of their love.

"Please Yang, I've heard enough of the rumors for a lifetime." Blake said.

"But This one's really good!" she yelled. "In fact, I don't even remember doing it!"

Blake's bow twitched with curiosity. Ruby zoomed in on Yang's speech while maintaining the clueless profile she did all day.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

"Well. Apparently someone caught you and me making out in the library. Funny thing is though, I don't remember any of it! Wouldn't surprise me if I did we did though. Do you remember?"

Blake eyes widened. It wasn't unlike Yang to forget one of her drunk love assaults on Blake after tapping into her secret supply of beer, she would always forget the next morning. "Yeah. I think you snuck in there a couple of days ago and I went to go fetch you and...well you know the rest!" she conjured.

"I figured as much!" Yang yelled, skipping ahead of Ruby and Blake.

Blake glimpsed at Ruby and Ruby looked at Blake. The look in their eyes was nothing good.

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**Ooooh Tension! Hope you enjoyed. Please leave Reviews so I can make later chapters better for you! :)**


	3. Chapter 3: The Two Sisters

Blake was on her bed, reading a book. The open window provided enough light from the full moon to read the pages. Blake tried to ignore her white-burned knuckles and the dry tears on her cheeks. She pretended she could follow the shaking words across the page like she didn't wake up hours ago, gasping for air, crying, and shaking like she was struck with palsy. A scowl marred her face._ Come on Blake. Get real here, _she thought_, This is the fourth night this week you've woken up gasping for air. You should be used to this by now. If you're not used to this you must be sick of this._

She recalled her vision: Adam slaughtering his way through innocent people to the finale with the two children that Blake would save before they tore her jugular out. None of it scared her. The blood on the walls didn't scare her. The corpses didn't scare her. Adam's "Don't do that" spiel didn't scare her. Even the part where she lets the children rip her neck apart didn't scare her. But despite her beatin-in fear, she thought _W__hy are you still scared? _

She tossed the book at the foot of the bed, throwing her sheets away and grounding her feet to the floor. The hardwood made a soft pop at the weight. She surveyed the room. Ruby and Yang were nowhere to be found and Weiss was fast asleep.

Blake thought back to the first time Ruby had discovered her "episodes" as she came to call them. Come here, Ruby would say, wrapping her hands that were rough above a soft palm around her head, pulling Blake into her bosom. Then she would stroke her hair softly before letting it rest around her waist and making time stop for however long it took for Blake to stop losing herself.

Afterwards, Blake would apologize for the tear stains on Ruby's blouse. She would say no problem and smile. The rest of the day would carry on as usual.

Half of Blake wished Ruby was there that night to comfort her and the other half didn't. She refused to go to Yang, the woman she confessed her love to, and decided she would not tell her about these episodes. So, Blake went to Ruby every single time. Blake thought of how much the word girlfriend didn't sum up at all how much she loved Yang. But she couldn't deny it anymore.

When Ruby embraced Blake for the first time in the library almost a month ago now. She felt a spark ignite in herself that she never felt before. She tried to deny that Ruby had something that Yang couldn't give to her. As much as her "sessions" with Ruby helped her to overcome her episodes, she knew that it was creating a stronger and stronger bond between the two of them.

Ever since the first episode, Ruby had been acting stranger than usual. At first she acted distant and didn't want to face Blake, like she had some kind of secret. But, a week later that was gone and she would talk with Blake and ramble about stories with her as usual. A week later, Ruby would make it her obligation to hover around her in case one of her visions popped up. A week after that, the two would end up meeting at dawn to converse. Just yesterday, Ruby bought Blake the book that she was trying desperately to read. During all that time, Blake forced herself to lie to Yang to avoid telling her the truth-that she was haunted by ghostly visions of her past that was driving her insane. Most of all, Blake feared she was making Ruby into more than just a teammate and friend. She feared Ruby and her were beginning to form the same bond that she and Yang had. It made Blake sick.

It felt as if she was cheating on Yang. She knew she wasn't, of course. But, she knew that if things kept going the way they were, if Yang found out there would be too many pieces to glue back together.

Blake walked, her light steps making no sound, to the closet where she changed out of her yukata and into a pair of grey sweatpants and a black wool sweater. _You've got to fix this before it gets out of hand_, she thought, pulling her tongs from under her bed and sliding them on. _You're going to find Ruby and Yang and fix this_. Tying her hair into a ponytail, she grasped the doorknob. _Take you with me?_ A voice called out. Out of the corner of her eye Blake saw her own Gambol Shroud laid against the weapons rack facing the corner of the wall, next to Myrtenaster.

She scoffed. _Great Blake. Now you're talking to your own sword._ She turned the doorknob; again she felt like the sword was speaking to her. Not with words or anything of the sort. It felt as if the sword was sending an S.O.S. directly into Blake's mind. Glaring at her weapon fearfully, Blake swiped Gambol Shroud out of the corner and quietly stormed out of the dormitory.

Blake knew it was idiotic to bring Gambol Shroud with her. The school grounds were guaranteed safe even at night. But, Blake felt a humongous wave of fear overshadow her realism when she tried to leave. It was different from the fear she felt in one of her "episodes." This fear was more genuine. It felt like if Blake didn't have Gambol Shroud with her at all times, she would be cut down and killed in a second.

Blake looked at Gambol Shroud, expecting it to utter words. _Swords can't talk, _she scolded herself. She flung her weapon over her shoulder where it magnetically locked into place. everything set, she made her way down the hallway in her search for the two sisters.

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**A/N: BTW if you ever need a good Beata Reader, message Anime Girl 144 (she's kind of amazing.)**


	4. Chapter 4: Eldritch

Blake's mission devolved into a midnight stroll. _What would I even say? _she thought as she walked through the dimly lit ornate hallways of beacon. _Hey Yang. I have been cuddling with your sister because I am a psychotic mess. Hope you didn't mind!_ Blake sighed after running an infinite loop of catastrophic scenes through her head. It was all utter garbage.

She came to a small balcony over-looking a beautifully lit garden-one of many that dotted Beacon's landscape. She used her far-seeing faunus eye's to read the plaques on the daises of the statues circling the garden. Anything to take her mind off of her shame. As she read off the names of ancient heroes in her head, she found her thoughts cycling between Yang and Ruby. She feared she loved them equally. _They will both die!_

Blake's eyes widened at the sudden thought. She turned around. The thought was so uncharacteristic of her she swore it was someone whispering in her ear. A shiver ran up her spine. She turned back to admire the garden. She saw Ruby walking across it.

Blake had no idea why she ducked under the balcony's balustrade. Maybe it was the way Ruby had her hood over her head in a mysterious fashion. _What is wrong with you! _she screamed as she peeked her head up like a child. She caught a glimpse of Ruby's red cloak fluttering as she entered an adjoining hallway leading to the school's interior.

Blake left the balcony and garden behind. Her ears twitched as she followed the clacking of Ruby's footsteps through the twisting-and-winding hallways. She had no idea why she was "sneaking" behind her best friend. Blake suddenly turned over her shoulder. _There's no one there! _she yelled. As she turned around, she gasped.

Before her was Adam, staring straight at her, his mask glowing red like it would when he would kill someone. Blake didn't realize that Gambol Shroud was drawn and her grip was so tight around the hilt that it made her entire arm shake. Adam didn't flinch. Instead he walked behind another corner. Blake pursued. What Blake saw made her stomach curl.

The entire hallway was caked with blood and corpses. The blood smeared on the walls spelled out _help _and _save me_. The corpses were all of people Blake watched die by Adam's hand: soldiers, citizens, businessmen, families. She blinked and it had vanished.

_You did nothing! _a thought assailed her brain. _You stood and watched them die! _Blake held her hands across her ears as the thoughts poked at her brain like knives. They weren't hers. She knew they weren't. Tears began to spew from her eyes that she clenched shut. Gambol Shroud echoed as it fell to the ground.

"Hey," a voice called. Not a thought. Ruby's voice. She stood before Blake, wind throwing her cloak around like loose paper. Her arms were stretched wide. She was smiling so hard her cheeks turned red.

Blake ran. _Don't! _a voice called out. This time it wasn't the raspy, perverse, disgusting voice that had poked at her brain. She looked towards Gamol Shroud. It was the sword's voice. Turning around, Blake fell back.

Ruby had managed to close the distant gap between them in seconds. She was face-to-face with Blake. The stench of her rotting face assaulted Blake's nose. Her eye sockets were empty and the place where her nose was dripped brown liquid. As Blake fell back, she opened her eyes again. Ruby was gone and she was not where she was before.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Blake stood, holding Gambol Shroud. She was in a square room. All three walls surrounding her were pure white and made from huge slabs of concrete. But, the wall before her was marred by an otherworldly sight.

Before Blake was a giant wooden door. Rusty rings functioned as doorknobs. The wood was rotten and peeling. Carved into the face of the doors with what appeared to be gold were dozens upon dozens of hieroglyphics that Blake had never seen before.

_Go. _The voice called again. Blake looked at Gambol Shroud. "If you say so" she said as she opened the door with both hands. A putrid stench bursted from behind the door. Blake clenched her nose shut as she stepped into a damp stone spiral staircase leading down. She wouldn't be able to see the steps in front of her if it wasn't for the weak torches dotting the length of the wall. She descended, keeping her hand flat against the wall as she stepped on each step two-feet at a time.

For a long time, the staircase was dead silent. The thoughts and voices from before were gone. Sweat beaded down Blake's head and stained her sweater. _It's so humid_, she complained, panting quietly. After what seemed like forever, Blake began to hear voices again. She feared it was the voices from before, but Blake was sure these voices were being muttered by someone. _Human or Not_, she thought.

Blake saw intense light pouring from behind the bend of the staircase. She stopped her descent and leaned against the bending wall. She peeked beyond it and saw a large square room dotted with broken and dilapidated stone pillars. The walls were barred and Blake only imagined what could be behind them. From her vantage point, she could see a group of cloaked figures gathered in a circle. In front of Blake was one of the fallen pillars. She forced herself to sprint down the remainder of the staircase, through the opening, and slide behind the cover of the pillar. Of course, her movements didn't make a sound.

From this far away, the chanting was loud and rhythmic. But, Blake had no idea what they were saying. Whatever it was, it sounded very guttural and raspy. It wasn't that difficult to tell they were repeating the same words over and over again.

Blake sat their for a few minutes, watching the hooded people sway back and forward to their chanting before they parted. From behind one of the staircases, another hooded figure walked out with a chain gripped in his hands. The chain led to a collar wrapping around a Beowulf._ If it is it must be sick, _Blake thought. The creature's fur was ragged and falling off in places. From it's mouth it dripped purple liquid and tendrils flailed in all directions, jutting out from it's body like spears.

The Beowulf was lead to the center of the circle. Blake now saw that inside the circle of figures was an elaborate array or lines and symbols. Blake swallowed when she realized it was drawn in blood.

In the center of the circle was a person, drawn over to match the pattern on the ground. Blake leapt over the pillar when she realized it was Yang.


	5. Chapter 5: Eldritch Part 2

The hooded figures jerked in shock after hearing the scream of their brother behind them. Turning around, they saw him fall limply to the ground as Blake retracted Gambol Shroud. Pure hatred appeared to be swirling in the Faunus's eyes.

Blake snapped back to reality after the thud of the cultist's body reached her ears. _I didn't mean to_, she thought as the blood trickled down her sword and blood gushed from the hole in the man's back.

_Watch out!_ the sword screamed to her. Blake had seconds to react before she blocked the knife slashing down at her neck. She jumped backwards, toward the spiral staircase. With the little distance she gained over them, she was able to tell the hooded men would surround her in seconds. The chained Beowulf wheezed patiently in it's master's leash. Blake's heart dropped once she realized there was a wall where the spiral staircase used to be.

_No way out_, she thought as the hooded men inched closer to her with their blood-stained knives. Behind them Blake could see one lifting his dagger into the air above Yang's heart. "No!" she screamed as she cocked Gambol Shroud and shot it, impacting it inside the stone ceiling. Blake pulled her ribbon taught as she lifted into the air.

She swung and kicked the cultist before his knife could come close to Yang. He made a resounding thud as his back cracked against the wall. Blake straddled Yang, hunching over with one hand on the ground and one holding Gambol Shroud high. Her eyes were filled with the fury of an angry animal.

The cultists surrounded her in seconds. Their knives pointing at her in every direction, they inched closer to Blake and Yang. Their alien chanting began again and echoed against every wall to the point that it was unbearable.

Blake looked left and right for a way to escape. _Can't run. Can't swing out_, she thought as she cocked Gambol Shroud and took pot shots at the cultists in front of her. _Can't kill them all. Can't mow them down_. The wounded cultists fell to the ground, yelling and screaming like any person would. But, their brethren stepped over them and ignored them like bags of rocks.

Blake sheathed Gambol Shroud across her back. She lifted Yang's tattooed face against her cheek and clenched her eyes shut. _I'll never get to tell you_, she thought as tears began to flow. _I'm sorry_. She said it about a hundreds times in her head, matching the rhythm of the encroaching daggers poised to kill her.

Blake could feel the knives lifting above her head. She intertwined her fingers with Yang's and whispered an "I love you" into her ear before it all ended. Silence.

Expecting hundreds of daggers to be embedded inside her body, Blake opened her eyes and found the cultists had lowered their weapons. They stood mere inches away from Blake. They shuffled out of the way slowly as the Beowulf snarled before unleashing an ear-raping howl that shook the walls of the room.

The cultists disappeared into the shadows behind the barred walls and all that was left was Blake, Yang, the Beowulf, and the crackling of the torches. Blake lowered Yang gently to the ground, caressing her smooth arm before standing and facing the Beowulf.

_It's disgusting_, she thought as the creature stared at her with yellow lensed eyes. It's limbs contorted and shook as the tentacles shooting from it's body slithered and swung in the air. It coughed up more liquid as it poised itself on all fours. It pounced.

The Beowulf was faster than Blake had expected. She was slammed against the wall in a second. With hazy eyes, she saw the Beowulf lift Yang with it's mangy hand and open it's mouth wide. "No!" Blake screamed before shooting Gambol Shroud into the beast's side and pulling herself into it like a missile. She flung her and the beast into a pillar. The dust and ash in the room shot out as the pair collided. Blake fell on top of the beast, her consciousness about to fade. _Don't!_ she screamed to herself. _You can't let it kill her!_ The Beowulf threw her off as it stood unfazed. Blake's limbs flapped like a ragdolls as she was flung to the ground once more. The beast straddled Yang's tattooed body, sniffing its prey and eyeing Blake closely. Blake reached her hand out and looked at it with eyes swirling with anger. "Stay away from her!" she screamed. The Beowulf lifted Yang once more, dangling her above its mouth like a shrimp. "No!" Blake screamed as the Beowulf chomped.

Blake clenched her eyes shut and she covered her ears to protect them from the sickening crunch of her lover's bones. Regardless, Blake opened them and gasped.

The Beowulf was split in two. One half slid to the floor, making a sickening plop, its tentacles flailing about as the last bit of life left the beast. The other fell over like a paper in the wind.

A smile appeared on Blake's face when she noticed Crescent Rose and its owner.

"Ruby," Blake said, "Thank you." With tears welling up in her eyes, Blake let her body collapse. But she jerked when she heard the sound of flesh being pierced.

Before Blake, Ruby held the torso of her older sister in her arms like a teddy bear as Yang's legs gushed blood onto the ground. Ruby smiled when she looked at Blake.

_No... _


	6. Chapter 6: Wakey Wakey

Blake gazed at her bandage-wrapped hand reaching towards a mineral fiber roof. Moments ago that hand was uninjured and reaching towards Yang's bleeding torso dangling from Ruby's hand like a children's toy. But now Yang and Ruby were gone. Blake was no longer in that dungeon with the rusty iron bars and wet moldy stone pillars. The cultists had disappeared with their blood-stained knives and the remains of the sick Beowulf were nowhere to be seen. In fact, nothing looked the same in Blake's eyes as it did seconds earlier. Nothing looked the same at all. Now it looked like Blake had innocently raised her hand to cover her eyes from the light that awoke her.

She looked left. There was a window there. Blake figured that is where the light came from because she could see a small ray bleeding in and out on to her face from behind a set of waving curtains. The view behind the curtains was that of one of Beacon's stone gardens. Blake sighed with relief. She turned to the right.

There was a green curtain there that stretched the length of the bed. _The Nurse's Office_? Blake tried to sit up but flopped back onto the pillow after barely managing to raise her head. Blake felt like she had been through one of Port's grueling training sessions. her mind flooded back to her battle with the sick Beowulf.

Blake mustered enough strength to grip her bandaged hand on the curtain and pull it back enough to peek her eyes out. Her vision was blocked by a vase sitting on a nightstand, but she could make out the figure of Ruby Rose sitting at near by table. Blake remembered what Ruby did. She found her body being fueled by anger and sadness. She lunged her hand at Ruby, wishing she had enough strength to stand and strangle the killer's neck. But as Blake's vision became hazy, her arm went limp and dangled off the side of her cot. Her hazy vision blackened and she lost consciousness.

The next moment Blake opened her eyes, Ruby was dabbing her face with a wet cloth. Blake jolted left and right, trying to run away from her lover's killer while trying to grab Ruby's neck. Again, she blacked out.

The moment after that, Blake noticed it was night and Ruby was reading a book under a lamp light. Through the darkness, Blake glared at Ruby. The corpses and Ruby's misshapen face entered her vision. Blake broke into sweat with fear before blacking out once more.

The next moment Blake awoke like it was any other day. She blinked and the fever was gone. The tiredness from before was all but gone. Realizing her new vigor, Blake flung the blanket from off on top of her and pulled the curtain back. There, sitting at a round table was Weiss Schnee reading. Blake was shocked to see Weiss grab Myrtenaster and point it at her with cautious eyes. Next to Weiss, on the round table, was a copy of Ninjas of Love. Blake wiped the remaining sweat from her forehead and asked, "Where did you find that!?"

Weiss reared her weapon back. The tip now faced the ceiling and she smiled. "Well, guess you decided to return to the world of the living. Unless you plan on giving me a black eye too." she said.

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked, walking over and snatching the previously well-kept secret from Weiss's hands. Blake hid her blush while throwing the book on the cot and hiding it behind the curtain.

"Glad to see you too," Weiss said while sitting back down. She sipped her coffee before offering Blake a seat. "I found it under your bed with the rest of the 'good stuff'" she said as Blake sat next to her. "As stealthy as you are, Blake, you do a lousy job of keeping things a secret."

Blake glared at her teammate. "Forget about the book. What did you mean when you said I'd give you a black eye?"

"Relax I was just kidding." Weiss looked into her coffee before eyeing Blake seriously. "Well, if you really want to know, I'll tell you. You've been asleep for three days straight. It wasn't a light sleep either."

The next five minutes was the worse news that had ever reached Blake's ears.

"To start, after you and Ruby finished your book report and met up with Yang and I for dinner, you lost it. There at the table, you started crying and convulsing. Then you ran off for some reason."

"But, Ruby and me finished that report weeks ago!" Blake shouted. She even remembered getting the grade for it. She passed. "I couldn't have been asleep for three days."

Weiss glared at Blake and sighed. "Sometimes dreams can be so real that the person dreaming mistakes it for real life. Considering you've just woken up, that is probably the case. Blake it was all a dream."

The last month of her life, couldn't have been all a dream. Could it? But, Blake's eyes opened wide when she could only remember the night in that dungeon and her "sessions" with Ruby. Blake cupped her forehead as she tried to remember anything else.

"We spent hours looking for you. Yang almost busted through a wall trying to find you. I still have blisters from running all over the school with Ruby trying to find you."

"I'm sorry I was a burden," Blake said.

"We found you of course. You were curled up in the statue garden, crying and clawing it."

Blake's body tightened when she pictured how depressing she looked.

"You passed out in Ruby's arms and we brought you here to the Nurse's office. That was the beginning of this series of unfortunate events.

"What do you mean?"

"Well. The first night you were relatively docile. You were sleeping peacefully. But, the day before yesterday you started losing it. The nursing staff said you were having night terrors. When I mentioned a black eye that's because you gave one to Ruby when you were in that state."

"I-I'm sorry." Blake said as disgust pushed her to tears.

"Yesterday was the nail on the hammer," Weiss let the silence in the room invade the conversation before saying, "Professor Ozpin was murdered. Well, more like minced."

"What!?" Blake shouted, standing to her feet.

Weiss didn't flinch from Blake's sudden shock. "And, Yang is missing."

Blake's heart sunk as those last three words resonated in her ears.


	7. Chapter 7: Wakey Wakey Part 2

Blake tightened her bandage-wrapped fist until the pain made her eyes cringe._ How could I hurt Ruby_, she thought when she knew she should be thinking, _Why did Yang leave_? She wasn't sure if she was angry at Ruby or herself anymore. After the grinding in her teeth began to hurt, she looked at Weiss casually sipping her cup of coffee. "Why did Yang leave?"

Weiss looked at Blake tactfully. "Well, I could tell you what everybody thinks. Or I could tell you what I think. Which would you rather have first?"

Blake looked at Weiss with an even more angry stare. _How dare she act so calm_, she thought. Blake remembered something. _Stop it. This is your friend Blake. She's not going to hurt you like...like that dream Ruby did_. "You decide," she blurted out in her confusion.

"Ok then. Everyone thinks Yang is on the run. Blake, they think she is the one who killed Ozpin. Goodwitch has every available police officer and hunter scanning the streets for her like some common criminal."

"But, why would Yang kill Ozpin?!" Blake shouted. She ran her hand across her face, sliding her hair backwards. "It doesn't make any sense."

"I don't think Yang would have had a good reason to kill Ozpin either, Blake. But the truth of the matter is that she ran away. The innocent don't run away, Blake. Whether she killed Ozpin or not, she has something to do with this.

"How can you say that!" Blake said, slamming her fist onto the table, knocking Weiss's cup over. The gash on her knuckle re-opened and a small trail of blood trickled down the length of her arm as the coffee dripped onto the floor.

Weiss wasn't fazed. She watched Blake hold her knuckle as she tried to keep the blood from escaping. The look in Blake's eyes was only comparable to guilt. "Look," Weiss said, "You've been asleep for three days. I know it's not ideal that you wake up and find out that the principle has been cut up like a pig and that your girlfriend might have something to do with it. But, this isn't the time to feel sorry, Blake. This is the time to be real. You, Ruby, and I have to figure out what is going on before more people end up like Ozpin."

"What do you mean?" Blake asked. "Are you saying another murder is going to happen?"

"I'm not sure," Weiss responded, pulling out her scroll. It contained a picture of several runes burned onto a scrap of old paper. "But this was left at the scene of the crime. No one knows what it means yet. But, I would guess that it's a message to join whichever sicko that did this's game. The bastard is toying with us."

Blake's eyes opened with shock when she realized the runes on the paper were the same she saw on the giant wooden door in her dream. She grabbed the scroll from Weiss's hand without thinking. The princess almost elbowed Blake in the face for it, but Blake didn't care. She found that the longer and harder she stared at the image, the clearer the words became.

Blake read the message as:

_Hello Miss Belladonna. Did you enjoy your little trip? I hope you did. I made sure you would have a nice little welcoming present when you got back. I hope you liked that at least. But that doesn't matter does it? You're more concerned about what is going on I bet. Well, not to sound childish, but I'm not going to tell you. Actually, that's not true. I'm going to tell you everything you need to know. Just not in the way you will be expecting me. Let's just call this a race against time with your awakening being the starting gun. You have three days Mrs Belladonna. Three days until the next one's turn. Who will it be? Even I don't know! I suggest you start at where this all began. Oh, and best of luck. With regard, Mr. Habit._

Blake recited the words out loud to a confused Weiss. During her speech, Blake did not blink once. Nor did it look like she even took a breath. After she was done, she blinked back into reality, sweat dripping from her forehead. Weiss took her scroll back with a little trepidation. "Are you OK?" she asked.

"I'm fine." Blake panted, wiping the sweat away with her bandaged wrist. "We need to go back to the crime scene. I think we'll find a clue there.

"Blake, the police have been all over Ozpin's office. They couldn't find anything that even looked like a clue."

"Then maybe they just can't see it!" Blake yelled. The fierceness in her eyes wanted her to move now.

"Alright," Weiss said, raising her palms to Blake, "If you think that is what's best. I'll go get Ruby."

"What?" Blake blurted. Her vision flash backed to that dream night with Ruby holding Yang in her blood covered arms, smiling like she was alive for the first time.

"Like I said. I'm going to go get Ruby and we are going to go to Ozpin's old office." Weiss said walking to a nearby locker. She retrieved Blake's clothes from it and tossed them at her. "You should get dressed. You can't be running around with scrubs on all day. I'll be back with Ruby."

Before Blake could object, Weiss was gone. She wanted to follow her and stop her. But what would she say. _Don't! She'll cut you in half_? Blake threw her sweat stained scrubs to the ground and used a rag and the nearby sink to wash the dry sweat off her body. After drying herself, she changed into her usual attire. The air inside the room was filled with a solemnity that scared Blake.

Blake's heart stop once she heard the knock on the door. It exploded into rapid fire once she heard it open. Her vision went nearly hazy when she saw Ruby, the black eye scaring her beautiful face. "Hey Blake!" Ruby said before watching Blake fall to the floor.


End file.
